Chocolate Persimmons
by Shimegami-chan
Summary: One-shot. Kaoru notices that Hikaru's a little miffed — all this Valentine chocolate, and still nothing from the girl his eye is on...even if he doesn't know it yet.


A/N: I had trouble deciding which coupling to use for this one. All the ones I had in mind had grave disadvantages. (Kaito/Aoko - Aoko is mad difficult to write. Shin/Ran - The series has Valentine's Day eps in the canon already. Hikaru/Haruhi - My raging fangirlism for a certain _other_ pairing involving Hikaru.) In the end I got out a set of dice, and having rolled a 5 (5 and 6 were in favour of Hikaru-kun), found myself writing this.

Note the Second: This fic is my Valentine's gift to **mrit. **Who is awesome.

Note the Third: I can't help but frame this from Kaoru's POV. I am just _overcome _with _Kaoru love_ and as a result can't keep his voice out of my narrative. Also Hikaru is much easier to comprehend through Kaoru's eyes, if you ask me. XD Unfortunately you will probably mostly get Kaoru's thoughts, but don't worry, Hikaru will be being his bullheaded self all throughout. :D

Note the Fourth (written after the story's completion): I hope you don't totally hate this. Hikaru is friggin' hard to write when he's sulky! He doesn't like to talk! Curse him!!

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Chocolate Persimmons

_by Shimegami-chan_

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"Hika_ru_."

"What." It was less a question than a statement. Hikaru's auburn head was inclined and resting heavily in his palm as he stared off at something beyond the window, jaw set, eyes narrowed. Kaoru didn't have to ask his twin to sense the problem that bothered him.

They were in a rare lull; today was _that day_, and the Host Club had seen an endless parade of girls since the final bell rang, shyly presenting chocolates but never staying to be entertained. They seemed to have come to the collective conclusion that the boys must be left undesignated today; the twins hadn't had an assignment since they arrived, though the heap of gifts on the sill was double anything even Tamaki had received. Even the clients who designated regular Hosts had presented something to all six of the boys and Haruhi besides, who smiled warmly but eyed the lavish boxes later with a frown. She did not like sweet things, Kaoru remembered, and most of her pile would undoubtedly be left to the others at the end of the day.

Kaoru himself was quite fond of sugary things, especially truffles, bonbons and those commoner sweets that had the chocolate coating in the hollows of _kaki, _persimmons. Hikaru was similarly weak to candies, but the younger twin knew that the many boxes piled between them were only serving to make him more and more irritated. Hikaru wasn't interested in all this obligatory chocolate with the occasional love poem thrown in, though he gave every girl who presented him with one a polite grin before asking possessively if they had brought anything for Kaoru as well, and they always had, at which point the elder twin would draw his counterpart close with half-lidded eyes and ask, "But you still liked _my_ gift better, right, Kaoru?"

Kaoru responded in a blush with the affirmative and, having achieved their objective (and Kaoru noticed that neither he nor Hikaru ever recieved a gift any larger than their twin's; it was all _giri-choco­ _and none of the geniune kind) the girls skittered away to Tono, Haruhi or one of the others, and the twins broke apart wearing identical grins. Hikaru's smile had been disappearing faster as the day wore on, though, and of the two, the younger was fairly certain that only he, Kaoru, knew why that was happening.

Haruhi had not brought them any chocolate.

Kaoru had anticipated this, if not expected it, given her status as a supposed male. It wouldn't do for the clients to see Haruhi, however feminine a boy she was percieved to be, giving Valentine's gifts to the other hosts. The knowledge that this was the case didn't stop a bit of stinging from surfacing in Kaoru's chest, however, and even if Hikaru didn't know _why_ he was obviously experiencing the same and to a higher degree. He was staring out the window again, ignoring Kaoru's insistent look, and defiantly avoiding looking over his shoulder at Haruhi.

The girl in question was clearly preparing to leave, wearing a practical blue scarf and shrugging a winter coat on over her uniform as Tono and Honey squabbled over who should get her pile of unwanted chocolates. Kyouya didn't speak, but out of the corner of his eye Kaoru could see from his guarded expression that Haruhi's income of sweets would be better put to use on the club auction website. The younger Hitachiin turned away when Haruhi shoved the pile between the two blondes and put her back to them, facing the twins as she fumbled with the buttons on her coat. Sensing Kaoru's movement, Hikaru shifted, but kept his gaze trained on the window.

"Jealous?"

Hikaru's head whipped around to stare at his brother. "Of _what_? Who?"

Kaoru shrugged.

"I'm bored, that's all," Hikaru said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Their frowns mirrored each other; Kaoru was even more convinced that his brother was completely clueless. "We could go home."

"No."

"Why not?"

Hikaru seemed as though he didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, narrowing his eyes as though daring Kaoru to voice the thoughts the younger twin expected him to be having.

"Are we waiting for something?" A smirk played, ghostlike, on Kaoru's lips.

"You two are like spoiled little children," Haruhi's voice interrupted, dry and scolding. "Off here pouting in the corner, really."

Unchagrined, Kaoru sprang to his feet, knowing that Hikaru would continue to sulk and it was his duty to convince Haruhi that no, nothing was wrong, and why should it be? "Haru_hi_," he protested in the same teasing voice he'd used with Hikaru moments before, "don't you like Valentine's Day? You've given away all your chocolate."

She frowned, and Kaoru saw Hikaru's head turn slightly, seemingly to catch a glimpse of her expression. "I don't like sweet things. Honey-sempai would enjoy it more."

Indeed, Honey and Tono seemed to have divided up her share and were comparing boxes just as the twins had done earlier. "Of course."

"I'm going home now," Haruhi continued, tightening her scarf. Her eyes shifted to Hikaru's stubbornly stoic face. "Hikaru? Are you all right?"

He seemed almost startled that she'd addressed him directly, but recovered quickly, brows climbing into auburn bangs. "Were you worried?" Hikaru inquired in a teasing voice, though the smile was faint and didn't reach his eyes.

"No," she affirmed, clearly regretting having asked. Hikaru's gaze was so intent that he missed the motions of gloved fingers sliding into her pockets; withdrawing small objects. She pressed one into each twin's hand and nodded gravely. "See you tomorrow."

"Well, what do you know," Kaoru murmured as Haruhi's receding back disappeared from the edge of his vision. The white box in his palm was plain and unadorned, but his name was neatly printed in black marker across it, along with a caricature of his face. Hikaru's was a mirror image, but his cartoon visage's eyebrows had a sharper slant, and it was so decidedly _him_ that Kaoru had to laugh. A twitch of a smile blossomed on Hikaru's face as he cracked open the box to have a look.

"Chocolate _kaki_," Kaoru decided without having to peek inside. "How's that, Hikaru?"

Hikaru just grinned, and he popped one of the sweets into his mouth. "How unpredictable of her. I like it."

"Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hikaru looked geniunely surprised, and he paused in his inspection of Haruhi's cartoonish drawing.

"Nothing." Kaoru pocketed his own box to save for later, his emotions suddenly twice as tumultuous as before. Hikaru was happy, and that was the important thing, right? The younger twin glanced at the heap of ribboned packages on the windowsill. "We're pretty popular this year, huh?"

"Yeah." If Hikaru was aware of his brother's anxiety, he didn't show it. Instead he picked up the nearest box of chocolates and made a face that was somewhere between wonder and distaste. "Kaoru...I wonder?"

It could be saved for another day, Kaoru decided, some time when Hikaru wasn't denying his own feelings and Haruhi finally _realized. _"Wonder what?"

"Do _all_ these girls expect something back for White Day...?"

_-end-_

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A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, mrit! I will press on to Gaia's story now even though I have not spellchecked this, because I will seriously die if I don't sleep soon! But I heart you guys enough to do this anyway! XD

Kaoru's love for chocolate & persimmons is swiped from the first drama CD.


End file.
